Publishing houses are starting to take advantage of the exposure authors can gain by allowing free access to books online. Neil Gaiman, Brad Meltzer, Vernor Vinge and egomaniac Stephen Wolfram have all released free copies of their books online.
Even Douglas Adams experimented with distributing 3000 free copies of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy via Rolling Stone Magazine in 1979. Think that was a mistake? Oh… now you’re arguing with a dead man. Now that’s just sad.
dbilnDbiln suggests free exposure to the first chapter of a book might not just expand an aspiring author’s fan base, but fund the creation of an entire novel!
"My idea is to create a website that has up and coming WRITERS sharing their novel ideas with the public. The WRITERS would share the summary of their idea plus the completed first chapter of ther idea. The READERS, if they are interested in this author would endorse the author a certain amount of dollars ($10 or up) to have them complete their novel."
